Marlborough Chelsea Wants You to Look Again

A new exhibit examines the art of re-appropriation

Re-appropriation is a tricky act. In fashion, the lines between inspiration, homage, and rip-off are often nebulous, the rules bent for some but not others. In the art world, it's a little different: There's an entire genre—and a very well regarded one, at that—of reappropriated artwork. A new exhibit at the Marlborough Chelsea gallery highlights such work along with trompe l'oeil, recontextualizations, and ironic tweaks to iconic works by Van Gogh, Warhol, and even Hermès. Called "Look Again,"the two-floor show features paintings, photographs, photographs of paintings, paintings that you swear to God are photographs, and sculptures, among other media, by 18 artists selected by cocurators Casey Fremont and Karline Moeller. "We wanted to show the evolution of this style of art and offer equal representation from the early years [of the re-appropriation movement] to the present," Moeller says. "To have a piece by someone like Richard Pettibone, for example, in the same show as an up-and-coming artist was very important to us," Fremont adds. "And how we arranged them in the gallery"—a task that took the duo almost as long as securing the works themselves—"I think, really accurately reflects that evolution."

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An endeavor that took six months "from concept to opening," "Look Again" was definitely a challenge for the two, who had never worked together before last fall. They also had good fortune on their side: "This almost never happens," Fremont says, "but we were able to get every piece we wanted for this exhibit. All our first choices are in these rooms." Some, however, Moeller reminds her, were "more difficult [to obtain] than others"—for example, the multi-paneled, paintbrush-adorned Van Gogh: Starry Night by Arman that both women almost literally dug out of the archives at the artist's widow's SoHo residence. "Once it was unearthed, restored, and assembled—" Fremont began, "—it was so satisfying," Moeller finishes. "Because even though others had their doubts about how it would fit in with the rest of the collection, we knew our instinct to include it was right."

At just 24 and 26 years old, respectively, Moeller and Fremont may be young, but they certainly aren't green. Moeller, who co-owned her Manhattan gallery until last March, worked in the Contemporary Art department of Sotheby's fresh out of college, followed by a two-year stint at the prestigious Nyehaus Gallery, under the mentorship of Tim Nye. Currently, she freelance curates and counts Christopher Brooks, Jamie Diamond, and Max Snow among her artist clients.

Fremont, Director of the Art Production Fund, began working for the high profile non-profit dedicated to "helping artists realize difficult-to-produce works" immediately after she completed her B.A. in art history from Boston University in 2004. Working her way up from intern to her present position, Fremont has collaborated on projects involving stars in the art world such as Aaron Young, Marilyn Minter, and Kiki Smith.